Here’s one way to solve global warming: Spend $90 trillion (£59 trillion) over the next few years to redesign all the cities — as in all the cities on Earth — so people live in more densely packed neighbourhoods and don’t need cars.

That is one of the more ambitious (and possibly outlandish) ideas knocking around the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, this morning. The Davos meeting is the annual conclave of the world’s ruling class: presidents and prime ministers, CEOs, and religious figures (and the thousands of journalists who follow them, hoping for a soundbite or two). (more…)

The average planning and zoning meeting consists of the planning and zoning commissioners, a room, and very little else. They are often dry meetings dealing with rules and regulations for business and home licensing, property lines, and nuisance ordinances.

So when the Borough of Kodiak, AK (Pop. 13,600) chose to attempt to entirely revamp the zoning code and place greater restrictions on property owners, including a $1,000 fine per violation, they expected there to be little opposition, and little knowledge of the change. (more…)

Alabama became the first state to adopt a tough law protecting private property and due process by prohibiting any government involvement with or participation in a controversial United Nations scheme known as Agenda 21. Activists from across the political spectrum celebrated the measure’s approval as a significant victory against the UN “sustainability” plot, expressing hope that similar sovereignty-preserving measures would be adopted in other states as the nationwide battle heats up. (more…)

Struggling young workers, priced out of the UK’s inflated property market and devoid of resources to rent increasingly expensive shared accommodation, may still have the chance to live in London. Enter the rise of hostel accommodation and microhouses.

The properties span studio flats with shared communal spaces and micro apartments, according to the Financial Times. They are aimed specifically at financially stretched young workers aged 20-39. (more…)

Michigan residents lost their “right to farm” this week thanks to a new ruling by the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development. Gail Philburn of the Michigan Sierra Club told Michigan Live, the new changes “effectively remove Right to Farm Act protection for many urban and suburban backyard farmers raising small numbers of animals.” Backyard and urban farming were previously protected by Michigan’s Right to Farm Act. The Commission ruled that the Right to Farm Act protections no longer apply to many homeowners who keep small numbers of livestock. (more…)